More from the article ...

... As a resident of a coastal region prone to hurricanes, one never wants to tempt fate. And in truth, since it is only early August, the bulk of seasonal activity definitely lies ahead of us. But all indications are we can look forward to a quiet season.

Why this season should be below normal

Why? First, there's the start. By the metric of "accumulated cyclone energy," a good measurement of overall intensity and duration of tropical systems, this year's value to date is less than 30 percent of where things normally are.

Historically, the Atlantic basin has usually seen three or four named storms by now, with one of those becoming a hurricane. ...

The leading seasonal hurricane forecaster, Phil Klotzbach at Colorado State University, has steadily been revising his outlook downward. In April, he and his team predicted 13 named storms and six hurricanes this season. In his latest, and final, outlook issued Wednesday, he is predicting nine named storms and four hurricanes. He expects the season's accumulated cyclone energy to only be about 40 percent of normal levels.

This would be a well-below-normal season, and certainly a welcome one for coastal residents in the United States from South Texas to Florida to Maine. ...

There's always a catch

Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist who writes at The Climate Brink newsletter, wrote a few weeks ago about emerging data that indicates it is possible this year's El Nio will be off the charts.

"The multi-model median for the event's peak currently stands at 3.6C, roughly 0.8C hotter than the prior record of 2.75C set in 2015-16," he said. "For context, the gap between the strongest and the fifth strongest El Nio of the past 150 years is only about 0.5C. The models are forecasting something outside the envelope of anything we have ever observed." ...

@#15 ... Trump/MAGA doesn't care about Fauci's pardon. ...

The pardon only works at the Federal level.

If State AGs decide to go after Dr Fauci, the pardon won't stop them.

More from the article ...

... In one courtroom after another, federal judges have accused U.S. President Donald Trump's Justice Department of an extraordinary spate of misconduct, including making false statements, failing to comply with court orders and improperly using the legal system to harass political opponents.

Such rebukes might be expected to trigger a flurry of activity within the department's two internal watchdogs tasked with policing the government's most powerful law-enforcement agency.

But shrinking staffs and fears of political retribution have largely sidelined the offices, limiting new investigations into the administration, according to Reuters interviews with four former DOJ staffers and a review of department employment and investigations data.

Nearly half the workforce at the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) has left during Trump's second term, while about 17% have departed the Office of Inspector General, government records show. Many retired or took buyouts the administration offered to shrink the federal workforce, according to the records and three people familiar with the departures.

The number of new OPR investigations has declined to a 20-year low even as misconduct complaints soar, the review found. The government watchdogs are "afraid of doing any watching," said one former DOJ official who left last year. ...

@#31 ... With how many proven cases? Zero?...

It is simple to see ...

When Pres Trump (or a candidate he supports) loses n election, then that election is declared to be ~tainted.~

The bottom line seems to be, Pres Trump has to win, or else the results are invalid.

Of course, that begs a question ...

Why cannot Pres Trump apparently be un
able to deal with people who may vote for others beside who he instructs them to vote for?

Good to see the possible JeffJ aliases posting here. :)

That shows how worried the GOP is about this outcome.

@#19 ... That's my take on it. ...

Yeah, and the MAGA trolls seem to be reveling in denigrating his win.

Pres Trump has even called into question election results.

@#1 ... The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is an independent agency of the United States government ...

"Independent?"

Apparently not any more. Now subject to Pres Trump's whims and dicta.

Some background ...

More from the article ...

... The threat, which Reuters is reporting for the first time, was emailed on May 13 by Chief Examiner Fatima Batie to many of the agency's mid-level supervision staff as they were preparing to resume inspections of financial firms following a long hiatus, according to the email and two people familiar with the matter.

Critics say the message amounts to a threat to CFPB staff that would likely make them think twice about how they interact with companies they oversee.

It also underscores how Republican President Donald Trump's administration has reoriented the CFPB's supervisory work, and reflects a broader regulatory retreat from oversight of the finance sector that his appointees say had become overly burdensome, constraining lending and economic growth.

Representatives for the CFPB and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. Batie did not respond to emails and a message seeking comment. Efforts to reach her by phone were unsuccessful. ...

@#20

Do try harder.

@#19 ... That's my take on it. This isn't a ringing endorsement for democratic socialism. It's a public tired of weak corporate democrats ...

Yup.

@#14 ... I feel this was more a "Haley Stevens isn't good enough" vote than a pro dem socialism move. ...

That's been similar to my expressed opinion.

Let me ask ...

The imagined (by GOP) tilt towards Socialism of Democrats ... is it actually more towards supporting Socialism?

Or is it just a tilt away from supporting current ineffectual Democrats?

My current opinion is the latter. ...

That the current Democrat voters seem to be agreeing with the GOP, that the current Democrats are worthless.

Of course the current GOP also seems to be reluctant to even address their lack of a spine. But that's a whole different thread ...

OK, after promoting Texas as a data-center friendly State, Gov Abbott now seems to have done a major retreat.

Has Gov Abbott been listening to the complaints and concerns of the Texas citizens who ~informed~ him about the constant noise (day and night) of the gas-turbine generators being deployed to power the data centers?

@#10 ... People will die ...

People will die?

Or ...

People have died?

@#19 ... " Sen. Rand Paul's office published Fauci's diary entries without redacting those sensitive details."

Anyone else in the medical profession would be subject to sanctions and discipline.

These prikkkks believe they're above it all. ...

The depth to which they go to smear their perceived "enemies" seems to have no bounds.

But the question then becomes...

If their position in the matter is so awesome, why don't they just try to proffer that position instead of denigrating their perceived enemies?

Asked differently ...

When one tries to raise oneself by lowering others, are you really raising yourself?

@10 ... BJ is mad, so it appears the libs did something good. ...

Yeah, The libs seems to have poked that apparent JeffJ troll.

But that aspect aside ...

I remain to be convinced that the Tuesday primaries reflect a trend toward Socialism fr the Democrats.

Yeah, in Michigan, that seems to be the case, but what about the other primaries?

... RFK Jr hosted a large party at his mansion during COVID.

Attendees had to provide proof of vaccination to attend. ...

Wow, is that true?

Found this ...

@#2 ... Good job Dana ...

Yup.

It is part of what journalists do ... ask questions.